“It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us — onze diepste angst is dat we buitenmatig krachtig zijn. Het is ons licht niet onze duisternis die ons het meest bang maakt…” — Marianne Williamson in: A Return to Love.
“Let freedom reign. The sun shall never set on so glorious a human achievement!” — Nelson Mandela, 1994.
Leidschendammer Lounge Meeting
Each year the Quest for Wisdom organizes Seasonal Meetings in Circles to cocreate inter-cultural perspectives on themes of social relevance. The materials will be presented bij the Soul Circle on the Annual Meeting Day and events, like the intercultural 2024 programme. The poems, essays, music and other artistic materials are published on the Golden Ratio website as explorations and expressions of the QfWf-World Dream. In 2024 the theme “Global Citizenship” was documented in Amor Mundi and in 2025 Amor Fati, as stepping stones to make the Wheel of the Intercultural Art of Living work for an inclusive cosmopolitan culture, in which all people may feel at home and in harmony with all living beings:
“Global Citizenship is open communication between people, without being judgemental.
Respectful to each other, acknowledging that however different we are, we can stay connected, and are able to share!”
A world dream emerges when we start dreaming together. By sowing seeds of love in our own circles — instead of going along with reflexes of indifference, aggression and fear — so that a smile elicits laughter, spontaneity is embraced with opening your heart. How valuable are the differences between people to create a meaningful world and to make (working) life more colourful and fascinating — with people developing an eye for (inner) beauty. How beneficial when people are opening up so that the lover between people creates an inclusive society.
World Citizenship – Nour Kayali
A world we dream of is created by dreaming. By not forgetting our ‘childishly naive’ way to be open and confident. And let us not forget that the most beautiful things are born from our hopes and dreams. The most beautiful dreams and positive emotions empower ourselves both as individuals and communities, by an ethos that reaches to the stars and can change the world – these dreams begin with powerful dreamers like Harriet Tubman and Martin Luther King. Like John Lennon singing “I’m a dreamer and I’m not the only one…”. Let’s start dreaming together about a world where each can find shelter and people around to feel at home, by starting with small actions in our own circles, so that our world-dream-power comes alive. With small steps that are big and loving deeds that are contagious. Weaving threads of soft skills that connects us as global citizens and living beings on Mother Earth, flowing with the stream of life….
The QfWf board is playing a leadership role in facilitating, organizing and realizing the QfWf-programmes on the intercultural art of living. From 2019 organized as the three Quests:
Quest 1 — Wisdom Web on which we collect wisdoms from all corners of the world;
Quest 2 — Developing a transcultural Golden Ratio of Play, Dialogue and Animal Wisdom storytelling;
Quest 3 — Living encounters to present our programmes and to develop the QfWf-goals.
Since the QfWf-project on Global Citizenship in 2024 the yearly QfWf-programmes around this goal are published on the digital platform for Global Citizenship Golden Ratio, integrating these quests.
The QfWf-Vision
is expressed in intercultural forms and artistic programmes enriching social themes for connecting people and their cultural heritage in an open cosmopolitan culture. The programmes are presented in living encounters and meetings of the QfWf, as well as in collaboration with social organizations, by means of publications, and through:
The QfWf websites:
The QfWf-website provides general information on the QfWf as a foundation with a Cultural ANBI status and how the QfWf circles are co-creating around the three Quests, resulting in the (e)books, dialogue- and game-forms. These might be purchased in the webshop. The website is bilingual: in Dutch and English.
Within QfWf-website is the digital gameQuest for Wisdom, launched in 2016, for which the Wheel for the Intercultural Art of Livingwas designed, ordering the 20 stories from the four corners of the world, including 80 transcultural symbols. This game gives consultation how to develop the art of living personally and as a community, family or team.
In 2017 the QfWf started the Wisdom Web, intended for the collecting (inter)cultural and artistic materials. The website is primarily Dutch language based, but also contains a substantial number of contributions in English.
The Animal Wisdom project has its own website that contains an intercultural storytelling programme — including a series of e-books: the Animal Wisdom Collection as well as an Intercultural Lesson to enhance an ethos for natural and narrative wisdom. This website is both in Dutch and English.
Since the project “World Citizenship of the Street” in 2024, which was honored by the Cultural Participation Fund, the QfWf has been focussing on different aspects of this urgent theme every year. In the intercultural language of the arts, the QfWf Soul Circle develops each year an artistic programme developed on the rhythm of the four seasons to be presented on the Annual Meeting Day. Hereby, the QfWf draws attention to the importance of World Citizenship for an inclusive and open cosmopolitan culture.
The Editorial Board, the QfWf-Council and Soul Circle
For the development of her programmes and the quality of her activities, as well as for the renewal and management of her websites, the QfWf has inaugurated an Editorial Board, a QfWf-Council and the Soul Circle.
QfWf-Editoral Board
The members of the QfWf-Board are:
Ali Nejat Kanıyaş
Heidi Muijen
Yassine El Azabi
Angela Gilds
Greg Suffanti
Mitra Muijen
Ebrahim Sohrabi
Heidi Muijen and Ali Nejat Kanıyaş are the Editors-in-Chief. They organize the seasonal publication of the Newsletter Spinnend Web, as well as posts on the socials and the co-creation of content for the QfWf-websites, together with Yassine El Azabi (Drawings and Cartoons),Angela Gilds (Spoken Word),Greg Suffanti (Artistic contributions),Mitra Muijen (Musical column) and Ebrahim Sohrabi (Editorial support and translation). In collaboration with the Soul Circle they develop contributions for the World Citizenship programme on The Golden Ratio Platform — as well as for the Animal Wisdom programme and the development of the Intercultural Art of Living on the Wisdomweb.
Heidi Muijen together with Mitra Muijen and webdesigner Jimmy Dean developed the digital platform The Golden Ratio in 2024: on which the QfWf-Quests flow together around a yearly changing theme on World Citizenship — like “Practices of World Citizens” (in 2025) and “Inter-Cultural Rituals for World Citizenship” (in 2026) — building upon the older QfWf-programmes like the Wisomweb and the intercultural storytelling programme Animal Wisdom as expressions of the intercultural art of living.
We welcome your contributions and ideas for the Quest for Wisdom! Please, contact us: redactie@questforwisdom.org
The Editorial Charter
The QfWf-Editorial Charter aims to guarantee the independence of the journalistic and artistic content of the Quest for Wisdom websites.
To this end, it regulates the position and tasks of all those involved in these websites as publisher and as digital platforms.
Cyclical development
The Quest for Wisdom takes shape as a cyclical development through the collaboration of the Soul Circle, the QfWf-board, the Editorial Team, and the QfWf-Council. This results in philosophical, narrative and artistic programmes, connecting the intercultural art of living to social themes, in order to strengthen an open cosmopolitan culture. The inter-cultural axis of World Citizenschip is enrolled through living encounters of the Soul Circle, in collaboration with social organizations, through publications and in Seasonal Meetings and the Annual Meeting Day.
Editoral tasks
Members of the Editorial team take care of editorial tasks:
develop text as well as illustrations in coordination with the QfWf Soul Circle and authors
check the suitability of the offered material for the development of the QfWf
acknowledge and check copyrights of the texts and illustrations[1]
take care of the content and the maintenance of the QfWf-websites
The QfWf-Council offers advice to enhance the quality of the QfWf-activities and her intercultural programmes. The members of QfWf-Council have a responsibility to keep an open eye on the QfWf-developments and will be consulted by the QfWf-Board and the Editors-in-Chiefs whenever necessary to assess the quality of the material offered by third parties for the QfWf-websites.
The members have a seat on the Council — because of their unique and diverse qualities.
They ensure quality by providing solicited and unsolicited advice and by contributing to the editorial pages of the Wisdomweb and the Animal-wisdom programme as well as on themes of Global Citizenship on the Golden Ratio.
with a keen eye and heart for the the Quest for Wisdom!
The QfWf strives to shape its activities in co-creation with the QfWf-Circles and in collaboration with affiliated organizations.
The Soul Circle is initiated to enhance as group the core values as world citizens that the QfWf is propagating as its mission for developing the intercultural art of living in communities. As the ambassadors of the QfWf they both develop the intercultural programmes as well as present the QfWf to the outside world in their own networks. They are the hands, hearts, heads and voices of the Quest for Wisdom, connecting people and their cultures in initiatives to let the Quest for Wisdom grow towards the future.
Honorary members are people who have earned this special recognition due to their inspiring ideas and/or their special contributions to the QfWf.
Since December 2016, the QfWf has selected two honorary members.
Since the year of her foundation in 2016 the QfWf has grown thanks to the help of friends, who contributed to the three Quests in their own authentic way. For their dedication the QfWf pays credit to
The first Circle of QfWf Friends shaping the three Quests:
[1] QfWf authors are writers, actors and other muses, such as artists, designers, drafters, photographers, illustrators, video and film makers and other producers of text, images, sound, and stakeholders, who make the texts and other materials available to a of the QfWf-websites have stated.
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